mosaicSWB

There are two parts to this title: mosaic and SWB.  Let me first deal with the SWB.  This is simply a geographic locator.  It stands for south-west Brisbane where my wife and I live.  Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland, the north-eastern state of Australia.  It has a population of around 1.2 million and is very much a sub-tropical city with hot wet summers and cool dry winters.  The Tropic of Capricorn cuts through Queensland at Rockhampton, around 7 hours drive north of Brisbane.

The more important part of course is mosaic.  A mosaic is a work of art historically and traditionally made from shards – pieces of pottery, tiles or glass items broken and cast aside either through normal use or deliberately smashed for the purpose.  I use mosaic as a motif in a number of ways.

In one sense, it is a motif for my own life.  I'm sure I share with many of you a certain sense of broken-ness as a human being.  Sometimes it seems that my life is made up of pieces - pieces held together somehow by a power that I don't fully understand or appreciate.  But the Master Artist has managed to not just put the pieces together, but to do so in such a way that it makes a work of art - loved by some and shunned by others.  And, like any work of art, different people see different things when they look into my eyes or observe my life.  Personally, I think that's true for all of us.  Part of my view of life is that every person is a work of art - more or less broken pieces uniquely arranged, with more or less help from a Master Artist.

In another sense, it is a motif for my family - both the family I was born into and the family I have made with my wife and our children.  Every person has a unique and valuable place in the mosaic of family life.  Every person has a unique relationship with every other person in the family, from mum and dad, to sisters and brothers.  As an adult son, I eventually came to see my uniqueness with my brothers and sisters and my very individual relationships with my mum and my dad.  As a husband and father, I have had to learn that I need to relate to each of my children uniquely and individually and that they individually relate to their mother differently again.  Me with my brothers and sisters and mum and dad is one mosaic.  Me with my wife and children is another very different mosaic.  And they may be shabby or chic.

In yet another sense, it is a motif for a local community or a nation: south-west Brisbane or Australia.  It is a kind of motif for any multi-racial or multi-lingual neighbourhood, society or nation.  If you live for any reasonable time in Australia, you will hear us use these expressions: the first Australians; white Australians; new Australians.  These refer to the indigenous Australians who were here for many thousands of years, the early waves of migrants to come here based on our 'White Australia Policy' after the British claimed the land in 1788, and the later waves of migrants who have come from just about every nation on earth - some as business or lifestyle migrants, others as refugees.  As Australians, we are, at many levels, a mosaic nation.  Some love the work of art that we have become, others don't like it at all.

But I also use it as a motif for a very different purpose.  I am one of those strange people who believe that God exists and that he is actively engaged with this world and the people in it.  In fact, for me, he is the Master Artist.  I will even go one step further and say that, for me, his interest in and active engagement with us, is as that Master Artist, making a mosaic out of me, out of my family and, I believe, making a very different mosaic within our various communities.  One of the ancient writers said, 'anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.'  Those who believe that he exists and, on that basis, diligently seek him, he is making into a most amazing mosaic.  I am part of that mosaic in south-west Brisbane - and the top priority for my life is to cooperate with him in that work and - hopefully - come to see a very large and very beautiful work of art that is, effectively, his family.

[Mosaic is one of three words that form the core of what I do with my life and, when taken together, they are my 'mission statement' and my 'core values'.  The other two words are 'ecclesia' and 'trapeza'.  Over the next few days, I will take a look at each one and construct a word picture of how it all comes together]